The story of the goldsmiths and the birth of fractional reserve banking from the documentary Money as Debt.

Just and average day at Huffington post..

These days, coin collecting isn’t just about fun or hobbies anymore. Buying coins can sometimes be an investment. To make it worth the time and money, however, you might want to look into buying gold and sometimes silver coins as an investment. As you know, gold is the most expensive metal available in coins. As such, they store value very efficiently, and when gold prices go up, they also sell very quickly as gold (just the metal in general) is in demand nearly every single day of the year.A major concern you’ll have to pay attention to is the legitimacy of the coin. As with any high priced metal, it’s absolutely required that you make sure the gold coin is actually a gold coin and not a “gold colored zinc” coin. Usually, when purchasing a gold coin, you’ll get a gold coin certificate of authenticity that is individually numbered to guarantee the legitimacy. That’s all safe and clear if you get one of those. If you don’t get one and you know you won’t, best to check it out before purchase.Buying gold coins as an investment can also get quite risky. No matter how much you dress up the situation, this is still an investment, meaning you can gain or lose a lot or a little. It’s basically a slower progression of the stock market. When you buy those gold coins, you assume the same risk any other investor does, so be sure not to put so much emphasis into these coins that you will ruin your bank if things don’t turn out well.The last thing you have to decide is exactly which coins you’ll want. Each coin, whether it be a Gold American Buffalo or Gold South African Krugerrand, ends up hanging around the $1000 mark, never more than $100 over or under. The price charts for the last year are pretty much the same across the board, so most people don’t take any notice between the different types of coins. It’s really not about the types or names of the coins, they are just for show while you have them. The prices are there for the gold, which is probably why the price charts are so similar.In the end, investing in a few gold coins is risky, but what else would you expect? It’s basically investing in a stock that looks different. Head for the largest dealers you can. They are least likely to throw a scam your way. Once you do get your hands on some coins, you just have to wait and ride out the ups and downs of the market until you feel that the price is right and the time is to sell the coins.

In this video I give my OPINION on food and services purchased (in an Era of Depression or Economic Collapse)and change due from those purchases. Will I get gold or silver as change due? Why not!?

“Gold is a wonderful thing! Whoever possesses it is lord of all he
Wants. By means of gold one can even get souls into Paradise.”
Columbus, letter from Jamaica, 1503
 
Gold is one of the good investment avenues open for many reasons.
 
Why one should invest in gold?
 
The uncertainty in world markets, particularly the US economy and the weakening of US Dollar against world currencies coupled with phenomenal rise in Oil prices, cascading price rise and inflationary trends – all these point to the need for strong world currency and that is the yellow metal- “” THE GOLD””. The Bullion has its own Standard. Besides, Gold is said to have sentimental values particularly in the Asian countries. Over time, Gold has proved to be an excellent preserver of wealth.
 
Gold has maintained its value in terms of real purchasing power in the very long run in all the countries especially in the US, Britain, France, Germany and Japan. Despite price fluctuations, gold has consistently retained its historic purchasing power parity with other commodities and intermediate products.
 
Gold traded mutual funds are the answer for people who want to invest in gold without the real difficulties of gold holding. For example, to buy gold for investment, one has to spend time to verify its weight, purity (particularly in third world countries) quality & other aspects. After all these, the problem of safe- keeping hovers over one’s head. Now Gold Traded Mutual Funds offer all the benefits of investment in gold without any of the above physical difficulties. Gold’s liquidity, acceptability and portability are particularly important in times of need. In essence, all these benefits are retained & rendered by Gold Traded Mutual Funds.
 
How these Gold Traded Mutual Funds operate?
 
They accept funds from public and buy 100% pure assayed gold. They issue unit certificate to the public for each gram of gold invested by them. For example, if one wants to buy 100 gram of gold, one has to buy 100 units from the Mutual Fund. The price of each unit depends on the price of gold ruling on any given day.
 
This investment can be kept in paper or in a demat account. These units can be surrendered to the fund and gold bars can be obtained in return (if required).
 
How the Fund repays in gold bars?
 
All the gold bought by the Fund is deposited with a custodian- usually a reputed banker- for safe keeping in their safe vaults. Once the fund units are surrendered, the Fund authorizes the banker/ custodian to release the gold bars.
 
So this helps the investor to get back gold or retain the deposit in gold (investor’s choice). Since these gold units are traded in the market, anybody can sell these units easily in the market at the price prevailing on that day. One need not search for a buyer as in the case of selling physical gold.
 
Gold Traded Mutual Fund offers all the benefits of investment in gold without its physical difficulties. The major advantages of these funds are:
· Safety
· Liquidity
· Convertibility to physical gold
 
This is one area that an investor can look forward to invest. However there are many more alternatives to invest. To know about investing in mutual funds visit Investing in Mutual Funds and to get an idea as to how mutual funds work visit Mutual Funds. Also visit Exchange Traded Funds to know about exchange traded funds